Direct Energy Services
Reviews and Complaints

This company sent solicitors to my house at 8:30 at night to try and get us to switch our electricity service over to them. I was not home, just my wife and 4 month old daughter, and they woke up my daughter and were extremely rude to my wife because she said she wasn't interested. I have already filed a complaint with this company and haven't heard anything back. If these idiots ever come back to my home, they better pray I'm not here.

We bought a new house this past summer, so we didn't need the "Maintenance Plan" from Direct Energy anymore. I called and told them this, and they said my contract automatically renewed and that it would cost me 260.00 to get out of the contract.

I made it very clear then, as I just did again now, that I'm not paying the bill.

This company is completely out of control.

Direct Energy has several bad online complaints even in Canada. Google it. This company for sure ripped me off. Had bills for $369 for a single wide trailer. then got another company and 1st bill was $79, with Direct Energy bill was never lower than $180, price gouging is my reasoning. Bad customer service, was disconnected 7 time one for $49, what a heartless company. Bye bye

I don't understand why our kwh usage went from 658 in Oct.-Nov. to 718Nov.-Dec. and then jumped to 1093 kwh in Dec. Jan. Nothing has changed in our home with regards to electric usage, there are still only 2 people living here, I have talked to some of my neighbours who say their bills increased as well but nothing near as high as ours, our last bill dated Dec.19-Dec. 31 @ 0.133530 and Dec. 31-Jan.22 @0.151940...with a total of 1093 kwh ( which I think is totally wrong ) our cost of electricity was $158.96 but with all of the other charges it was $312.74, it does not make sense to us and like a lot of your customers we will be switching, this is a total rip off...I look forward to a comment one way or another from you...I think.

A woman knocked at the door around 7 pm, very rainy night, said she was from "the electric company". I stated to her I was very surprised the electric company was sending young women knocking on doors at that hour. Naturally I assumed it was PECO, she stated the neighbors have been complaining about the electric rates and may she see any of my electric bills. I should have realized she was NOT from the electric company if she didn't have access to my electric bills, major deceit. I naively went and got one where she proceeded to tell me I should be paying a lower rate, thus saving X amount of dollars and if I signed up now, etc., etc. I stated "You are not from the Electric companny." ONLY at that point, "No, I'm from Direct Energy. I'm only in the area for 20 more minutes, we can sign you up now." Very aggressive. I told her repeatedly I'm not interested. At that point I stated I was going to shut the door. Major deceit from the get go!

A door to door salesmen tried to get me to switch electrical suppliers by showing me a copy of a flier that my electric company puts in with my bill that has a list of approved suppliers on it, My current supplier was not on his list .But I told him that I still had my copy of the same flier and I wanted to compare the two upon returning wit the said flier the two salesmen had departed from my residence and after a brief search I can only assume they did not want to see my flier which still has my supplier on it.This troubled me so I check my electric companies website and saw that my supplier was indeed still a business partner of theirs.I then contacted direct energy by phone to voice this complaint, after being switched several times I was given someone who would listen to my complaint that their salesman showed me a falsified document that this was fraud and I wanted to report it they said they would look into it but when I asked for his name he would only give a first name and after asking to speak to a manager and threatening to seeking legal action he gave me his and the first person I talked withs ID numbers and told me I would be contacted. I am still waiting!

I have a hot water boiler problem, which the unit does not function and according to direct energy technician the control unit has stopped working. I have been waiting for control unit of this device from last 4 days and every day I am hearing something ridiculous from the managers of Direct Energy in Ontario. Direct Energy has the worst customer service. There is no coordination in their system. One manager is saying something and other something else. They are so irresponsible and unprofessional that cannot fix a boiler issue from last 4 days. Each time talk to them for more than 20 minutes to explain them the situation. They don’t have a note in their system about a ticket, such a annoying services. Never go with Direct Energy as they sucksssss.

In Oct 2010 my house was sold. In September 2010, Direct Energy automatically renewed the home protection plan. Our lawyer informed the utility company about this, and the plan was transferred to my rental property without any direction from me. In November 2010, I notified Direct Energy and cancelled the plan. I was charge an over $300 penalty to do so which I paid. They never stopped billing me for the Home Protection Plan despite two additional attempts with complete confirmation numbers and employee id numbers. In October 2011, I received a collection notice from the utility and learned that Direct Enegry has never stopped billing me! Just spent about an hour on the phone with them and am now awaiting a call from customer care. Still not resolved. To top it off, I paid off an $8k furnace upon sale of my house to this company. And they continue to rob me! Do not deal with this company if you can help it.

I was a Direct Energy customer for about 27 months. I had their service at one address for about 14 months. I called and transfered my service to a new address. At that time the agent on the phone went over the new address and rates. They did tell me about the early cancellation fee. However, they make the converstion sound like they are simply going over the information on the existing account and confirming the new address. When the consumer says "yes", you are making a "verbal" contract. First of all, they deceitfully trick you into thinking they are just confirming you address, rates, and criteria of your account. Secondly, I should have already been in a contract from my first address. Unfortunately, not. They told me that the contract is only good for that address. So, they basically renew a contract without making this clear. When on the phone with them, the word "contract" was never used. Avoid Direct Evergy if at all possilble.

Direct Energy is a complete rip-off. I was charged over $70 on my first bill which was for 9 days. They gave me a bill stating I used over 500kw of energy during that time; but, I had no appliances other than a refrigerator (no TV, microwave, etc.), neither did I leave lights on or made extensive use of a/c or heating. I don't even have kids or anyone that lived with me. When I inquired about the charges, they said they would send someone out to check the meter at "my" cost. They checked it, and of course said that there was no error on their part. For the remaining 5 months on my lease, I averaged half of the initial usage, and my bills were about $30 a month. No more than $40. No way I could have had that amount of energy consumption in 9 days if I wasn't using it in 30 days. Also, Upon disconnecting my service, I requested my deposit to be mailed to a separate address since I chose to go. I was told the information was updated, and that my payment would be received within 4-6 weeks. I called multiple times to verify this information was accurate. I was told everything was taken care of. But, I checked online and the address was incorrect. I called and they corrected the problem, but after I didn't receive the payment for some time, I called again. This time I was told that my payment was mailed to the incorrect address (my ancient address, even though I updated my information), and that I would have to wait an additional 4-6 weeks for them to mail my payment again. I told them that the period of time was unacceptable, and questioned that they mail it overnight. I was then allowed to speak with a supervisor, who stated that the payment was made to the right address (the first employee I spoke with gave me a different tale), and that there must have been an error with the mail system. I questioned the supervisor if my payment could be mailed overnight even if at "my" expense, but she continued to tell me to wait 4-6 weeks. I questioned to speak to someone else, but she came back to the phone only to tell me to leave a message on someones machine. By this time, I was through asking for "my" CASH (I was cool and professional the whole time). I got real firm with them. (I let them know I was serious without speaking loud and outrageous). My payment was then mailed overnight. My advice… be firm, and seek legal action if you have to. IN YOUR FACE DIRECT ENERGY!

I am moving this Thursday due to a change in owners. Direct Energy is refusing to allow me to cancell services since I am under contract and do not have a new address in their service area. I keep calling in and everyone keeps teling me that without and address in their service area I cannot stop services and must continue paying the bills at this address. They have issued a stop order on my account telling me I cannot stop servcies until I provide a new address in their area to continue the contract. I was forced to file bankruptcy last month when identity theft destroyed my name. They have refused to even ackowledge this and document received documentation or take the info down. They have made it clear until the court sanctions them they do not care. STAY AWAY FROM DIRECT ENERGY! They are the worst company ever.

We filed a complaint against a Direct Energy worker who came to our house who was rude and did not perform the job he was hired to do. Today, as we were expecting a rep. to come over to fix the problem for the second time, the same rep. that we filed a complaint against showed up. He casually knocked on the door and threw the our Direct Energy papers to my face. When I ran after him to demand an explaination, he pushed me to the floor and shouted " you think you can file a compaint against me!?" I was in shock and appauled. He ran to his car and drove off. I could not believe that this is Canada where things like this can happen without consequence. I called Direct Energy and spoke with a manger on duty who seemed very little concerned about the matter. This is not the first time that this sort of matter has been reported by people with respect the behavior of a Direct Energy rep. Global News has reported this issue twice before and I am in the process of contacted them.

As seems, Direct Energy Home Services invented a new kind of fraud.

In April of this year I called Direct Energy Essential Home Services
regarding problem with our rental Water Heater.

The technician visited us and made necessary repairs. No charges were apply

since service and repairs for rental water heater are free.

In May of 2011 I received Enbridge Bill, which, particularly, indicated
Service Visit charge of $158.19 from Direct Energy Home Services.
That amount looks pretty close to amount we "saved" according to
"Water Heater Service Technician’s Checklist".

When I called Billing at [protected] on May 24, 2011, after some investigation
I was informed, that it was not a charge for Water Heater repairs, which are free
for rentals, but for maintenance of our furnace.

This looks like absolute nonsense – we installed new furnace recently
from another company, and it completely covered, so we even in
theory don’t need any service calls for furnace from Direct Energy!

After many calls and a lot of trouble, on June 03 I’ve been informed

that they will credit that charge, but can’t correct my current bill which

was due on June 06 because it’s too late.

Even more, that credit of $158.19 will be applied to my June’s or July’s bill and only to

Direct Energy Home Services part of it.

Since that part of bill includes only monthly charge for rental Water Heater - $17.49, it means

my money will be repaid only after 9 months ($158.19 / 17.49 = 9.04…)!

Why don’t mail to me the cheque with that amount instead?!..

Since Direct Energy Home Services has many thousands of customers, the charging

even some of them with such “errors” brings to company a lot of money that can be

used for months…

I think appropriate justice institutions should pay attention to this.

Valeri Lechtchev
Mississauga

I will not go into detail with all of the countless calls that I have made to Direct Energy and Atco.
I cannot believe the downright theft that has occurred from me ever since I moved out of a property in the wintertime.
My furnace was broken 6 MONTHS ago, and they still think it is fair to charge $150-200 per month for services not even used! My furnace is not working, so I have not used ANY energy! I keep asking how it is fair to charge for something not used, but I never EVER get an answer. I would not even mind paying a measley $30-40 per month just to keep it hooked up, but we are talking ridiculous charges here. I even drove all the way out there to meet an Atco worker so that they could SEE I have not used ANY energy. Guess what Direct Energy says they owe me? $100 dollars when they have realistically overcharged me by over $1000. I am so angry about being taken advantage of like this, they just think people will keep paying it. There have been so many 'screwups', such as not 'cancelling' when I called months ago.
They just say they have no record of it?! How many times I have gotten the run around from them, it is like one big joke.
Regulated, my ###! They do whatever the hell they want!
I finally called and said, "Right, we are broken up, if this were a relationship, I would have a restraining order on you, I don't want anything to do with you, do NOT send me anymore bills, I want nothing to do with you!"
I guarantee you all they know is sending out bills to people.
DO NOT USE DIRECT ENERGY IF YOU CAN HELP IT!
ABSOLUTE JOKE!
WE ARE ALL IN THE WRONG BUSINESS, IF YOU CAN CHARGE SUCKERS FOR NOTHING, NO WONDER ALL THOSE PROFITS COME IN FOR THEM! SHAME ON THEM!

I had yet another door to door sales man come to my home trying to rook me into switching to Direct Energy.

This time he came to my home at 9:00pm. That's right - night time. I told him to go away. Then I E-mailed a complaint to Direct Energy about the constant Harassment. The response I just recived said - we don't have door to door salesmen? Excuse me? I am going to call and talk to a human being - this should be a great stress reliever.

I also have been a victum of the "Direct Energy Contract Scam." 4 years ago I had to pay $3000.00 to Stop paying 11.99/kwhr. The rest of the world was paying 7/kwhr. I wish I had a lawyer back then.

I live in the Baltimore Maryland area U.S and I recieve calls daily up to 2 times a day from direct energy asking me if im saving on my current electrical bill and requesting I make the switch.. they have even called at 9pm a few times. If that's not enough they have door to door 'representatives' coming around at 8:30pm - 9pm every few weeks. If this isn't harassment I don't know what is... How do you make it STOP!

Direct Energy comes to your door and asked to see your currant bill with London Hydro They offer you a fixed price on your hydro, but don't tell you that you will be paying the Provincial Benefit over and on top of the rate that they give you. The Provincial Benefit was always and still is included in the London Hydro Rates. The Price they fixed me at was 8.49 cents per kwh and now with the Provincial benefit billed separately the cost is 12.398 cents per kwh not what they quoted me. This amounts to quite a bit of money and when I asked to cancel the contract they want to charge me a very large cancellation fee. Crooks

I phoned their 1-800 number and she did not want to help me and hung up.
I sent three emails and received no response.
I mailed a letter to their head office and still no response.
I never signed up with Direct Energy and also did not realize this until I received the December bill for over $300 and I was only living in the house for half the month as my bill is paid automatically. This has been going on since 2007 without my authorization and knowledge.
I want them to tell me why they think I want their service?

This large British company has all kind of scams, I wish I had checked the internet. Billed me for Natural Gas at $7.99 per MCF the rate should be 5.96600 per MCF or lower.

Last summer I signed up with Direct Energy Services LLC to get a special on Natural Gas that they were running: 10% off the dominion east ohio sco rate till the end of year, and then the monthly variable rate. Sounded good. Come January I received my gas bill. They had billed me at a outrageous rate. The puco chart shows their rate for the Direct Energy Monthly Variable Rate Plan is 5.96600 / mcf but they billed me 7.99 / mcf. The Standard Choice Offer (SCO) Rate of Dominion East Ohio is 5.4160.

I called Direct Energy and they said that the puco was wrong and the rate was 7.99 and direct energy refused to do anything about it. I called the puco and the puco said that they would ask Direct Energy why they did not charge me 5.9660. I also complained to The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

I have lived in my house for 16 years. My complaint is that I have complained to Atco about moving the gas meter from inside the house to outside the house. Every month they knock on my door wanting to come in and read the meter. I refuse to, but only once a year I will allow them to come in. I wonder if I can refuse them all together until they move it outside.
It is very annoying and they have no business demanding to come into my home to read the meter, it is their meter and should be moved outside.
Would appreciate your comments